Ebook: Perilous Interventions

It was an exclusive lunch at a high-end Manhattan restaurant on 7 March 2011. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his entire A-team were present. It soon became clear that the main item on the menu was Libya, where it was alleged that the forces of Muammar Gaddafi were rapidly advancing on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi to crush all opposition. Over an $80 per head lunch, a small group of the world's most important diplomats from countries represented on the Security Council discussed the possibility of the use of force, ostensibly to protect civilians, but in reality to effect regime change. As things turned out, the Council's authorization came only ten days later, and all hell broke loose. Hardeep Singh Puri, India's envoy to the UN at the time, now reveals the Council's whimsical decision-making and the ill-thought-out itch to intervene on the part of some of its permanent members. In contrast, on Syria-which too was unravelling at the same time-the Libyan...